Hi, folks, we are so glad that you're listening to Our Body Politics.

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for you, with you and because of you. Thank you. This is Our Body Politic. I'm Farai Chidea. George Floyd's death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer was a flashpoint for the struggle for racial justice in America. Of course, later ruled a murder. It sparked nationwide protests, demands for change, and in the two years since then, there has been a lot more talk about police reform and systemic racism, but not as much about George Floyd himself.

In their new biography, his name is George Floyd, one man's life and the struggle for racial justice.

Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Tolu Oloranipa

look back at the life of George Floyd and how the systems he faced shaped both his and his

family's fate and of course how his story shaped the world. I talked to the authors to learn more.

So Robert, welcome. Thank you for having me. And Tolu, welcome.

Thanks so much. It's great to talk to you. So I was really impressed with the warmth of this book.

And in the acknowledgments at the end of the book, you start out by thanking the family members

who answered all the tough questions to help you write the book. Let me ask both of you this. How do you ask

the right questions of people who are grieving in this specific case, people who were grieving the

death of a man who was killed in plain sight and who was a loved one of theirs and who the world

created a whole story about, which may or may not have

been the story of the man that they actually knew. How did you come up with the right questions,

starting with you, Robert? Before we even spoke to them, I had to have a pretty serious

conversation with myself and the people who are working on the project.

Originally, it was a project that started at the Washington Post.

And the first idea that we had was how can we move from a spot where I'm working as an interviewer

to a spot in which I'm joining them in helping them tell a story

that they felt would be valuable to the public.

...